AMD spends little wining and dining government

In the horridors of power that is the White House, technology companies park nearby if possible and spend their money on influence with policymakers. AMD managed just $110,000 in the second quarter, down from $280,000 the same time last year.

Even though AMD bites at the ankles of Chipzilla, its lobbying total paled in comparison to Intel, which spent almost a million bucks on working with Washington, DC. Intel’s long list of policy officers are listed here, including the aptly-named Audrey Plonk, apt because, though we can’t confirm, we bet the company splashed out on a fair amount of bubbly.

AMD spent a little more in the first quarter of the year, says the Associated Press, where it tries to convince government to give some leeway on its ideas about security, government funding, taxes and immigration.

AP doesn’t exactly put down AMD’s relatively tight-pursed lobbyists to the absence of a CEO, but it does mention it. The stand up comedian Dirk Meyer left AMD shortly after CES was through, while the board dragged its heels eight months too late to find a replacement for the Dark Mayor.

Its replacement was Rory Read, whose last position has not been replaced at Lenovo. We have heard whispers that no one wanted the tough job of pleasing the board.